Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."

A cavernous three-story, 43,800-square-foot basement that was forgotten about for 60 years.

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.

Daredevil repair workers can worm their way out the access hatch, loop ropes over the apex and rappel down the monument.

The monument's pointy aluminum tip has been melted down by repeated lightning strikes.

A tiny monument to the unsuccessful attempt by Thomas Jefferson to place the prime meridian in Washington.

This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.

A derelict bit of infrastructure from the canal that once ran through D.C. is landlocked in the heart of the city.

For 60 years, the academy had no permanent location until members voted Washington D.C. as its forever home.

The grand marble structure next to the White House is Andrew Carnegie's temple to Pan-American diplomacy.

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.

This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.

Through the decades, Black music stars have performed at this historic hub for music and the arts.

Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”

The first memorial dedicated solely to the Black troops who fought for the Union.

A gorgeous mural outside a beloved D.C. restaurant pays homage to famous Black Americans.

The winding route passes through an enclosed alleyway, two tunnels, and leads to the White House basement.

Where a young athlete began his run across Canada after losing his right leg to cancer.

The first transatlantic wireless signal was received at this 17th-century fort.

A World War II gun battery sits at the easternmost point of North America.

An old drug store full of mortars and pestles, pill-making machines, and medicines reputed to cure most any illness.

Hundreds of enormous icebergs drift through this waterway every year.

Berkeley Hot Springs presents to you "the only outdoor monument to presidential bathing."

An enormous warehouse filled with parade floats collected from over 50 years of patriotic celebrations.